Daniel I. Pineda, PhD

Dee Howard Memorial Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Mechanical Engineering

Associate Professor, Mechanical, Aerospace, and Industrial Engineering

Daniel I. Pineda’s primary research focus involves spectroscopy and optically based sensor development, including laser absorption spectroscopy, with experimental applications to advanced chemical propulsion, hypersonic flight, and energy conversion systems. His research interests also include the chemical kinetics of ignition, fuel reformation, and fire toxicant and pollutant formation for broader environmental and health monitoring applications.

He directs the Laser Spectroscopy and Chemical Propulsion Laboratory at UT San Antonio, where he works with student researchers on experimental projects that aim to solve aerospace and energy problems. He also serves as associate director for UT San Antonio’s Center for Advanced Measurements in Extreme Environments (CAMEE), where he collaborates with multiple researchers across the university on projects spanning pollution monitoring in downtown San Antonio to robotic and human space exploration.

Pineda’s work has been funded by the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and industry partners. His research has been published in several peer-reviewed academic journals including Experiments in Fluids, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, Applied Physics, Optics Express, Combustion and Flame and Aerospace Science and Technology, among others.

He is a recipient of the prestigious NSF CAREER Award, an AFRL Summer Faculty Fellowship, the Margie and Bill Klesse Fellowship and a Best Paper Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), of which he is an active member of the Pressure Gain Combustion Technical Committee.

Since joining the university, Pineda has been committed to growing the aerospace program at UT San Antonio through research, mentorship and service, as well as developing and teaching several new courses that have been integral to the program’s growth. He has chaired multiple dissertation and thesis committees, advised dozens of graduate and undergraduate students, and currently advises the university’s Aeronautics and Rocket Club. Additionally, he has mentored several senior design teams, including one that was awarded the opportunity to compete in the NASA Student Launch Competition and one which designed, built, launched, and recovered the first bipropellant liquid rocket of any university in Texas.

Pineda holds both a PhD and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining UT San Antonio, he held a postdoctoral appointment in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at UCLA.